Motorcycles could be defined as a two-wheeled, gasoline powered open vehicle. Typically, the wheels are mounted on a frame. The front wheel is controlled by handlebars mounted approximately above or somewhat behind the front wheel. The front wheel pivots on forks mounted on an axle, with the pivoting motion controlled by the handlebars or similar device used by a rider to control the turning of the front wheel. The rear wheel is separated from the front wheel by a frame. The rear wheel is typically fixed in the frame and is the drive wheel. The engine is ordinarily mounted between the front wheel and rear wheel. The gasoline tank is above the engine with the seat mounted between the engine and the rear wheel behind the gas tank. Ordinarily, there is a single seat although the seat may be extended in such a fashion as to allow a passenger to sit behind the driver.
In the United States at least, a motorcycle is not a utilitarian vehicle. It is open and exposed to the elements in a way that an enclosed vehicle like a car is not. Because it is an open vehicle, such safety devices as air bags, seat belts, roll bars and the like are not available, hence, it is more dangerous in an accident.
There are a number of manufacturers who build and sell motorcycles. Among the better known manufacturers are Honda™, BMW™, and Harley-Davidson™. Of these, Harley-Davidson™ is known throughout the world for the particular type of motorcycle it builds and sells and for the cachet that accompanies this motorcycle. Whether rightly or wrongly, Harley-Davidson™ is known for a rebel image commonly associated with particular types of motorcycles. This is in contrast, for example, to Honda™, which has tried to distance itself from the black leather motorcycle gang image that sometimes accompanies the marketing of the Harley-Davidson™.
Perhaps the defining feature of the characteristic Harley™ motorcycle is the large V-twin common crank pin engine, which has been part of the Harley™ design for at least a half a century. It is the throaty growl associated with this type of engine for which Harley-Davidson™ has sought a trademark. The large torque and fast acceleration are characteristics of this engine and are commonly thought of as characteristics of the Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle. This air-cooled engine has two large cylinders arranged in a V. The plane formed by the V is parallel to a plane bisecting the wheels of the motorcycle in a lengthwise direction. This air-cooled V-twin engine generates a great deal of heat. Other motorcycle brands have copied the Harley configuration including the large V-twin engine as a means of competing with Harley™ and, more specifically, capturing the cachet that accompanies the Harley™ V-twin engine and its throaty growl.
Purchasers of the Harley™ V-twin are not interested in its practicality. Other types of motorcycles with more modern engine designs are arguably more practical than the Harley™ V-twin. Consequently, owners are willing to put up with some inconvenience or even discomfort that may be caused by the Harley™ V-twin design when another engine design would be equally or more efficient at propelling the motorcycle but lacks the romance associated with the Harley™ design. It is toward this specific type of engine and the drawbacks inherent in this design that this invention is directed. It is designed to be a heat deflector to fit onto a Harley-Davidson™ V-twin or a Harley-Davidson™-like V-twin design motorcycle to deflect the heat generated by the V-twin engine away from a user and the saddlebags used on a Harley™. The heat generated by the V-twin engine can cause condensation and water build-up in the saddlebags, hence deflecting the beat away from the saddlebags reduces condensation.
Motorcycles with enclosed running components or fairings enclosing the engine are common, particularly in motorcycles of Japanese designs. For example, Muramatsu, U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,725, Kishi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,223, Hirano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,754, and Asakura et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,589 disclose designs for motorcycles of this type. It is also recognized that the exhaust pipe of the motorcycle may generate substantial heat and it is desirable to shield a rider from burns caused by the heat of a motorcycle exhaust pipe. Hoeptner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,193 discloses a series of telescopically constructed semi-annular shield members that fits over the outer side of an exhaust pipe and adjusts by bending to conform to bends in the exhaust pipe and provide a shield for a user of the motorcycle from the heat generated by an engine in an exhaust pipe. Christensen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,313 discloses a heat shield to be mounted on or adjacent to a passenger foot rest and extending between the foot rest, hence, the passenger's foot and the exhaust pipe. The Christensen patent is designed to supplement the heat shield ordinarily found on a motorcycle engine exhaust pipe and particularly designed to provide protection for a passenger in a seat located behind the driver.